Main menu

Post navigation

August is 4.

Wow. I can hardly believe that my little boy turned four yesterday. Four years ago our lives changed in a way I never knew possible. The past few weeks, I’ve been thinking back to when August was a baby, looking at videos and pictures from when he was Harrison’s age and remembering his newborn days. When he was a baby and toddler, while I enjoyed him, I longed for the day where we could talk, play games, and watch movies together. Those days are here and I can hardly believe it.

This past year has been one full of learning for August. It has become clear to us, that this little guy has a love for collecting information, learning facts and grasping new concepts (he must get it from his dad). He loves having chapter books read to him, and prefers a mystery more than anything else! Part of this learning has come from starting 3’s preschool this fall. Everyday, August asks if it’s a school day or not. He loves school and everything about it. He goes on Tuesday morning and all day Thursday. On Thursday they go on field trips to a local nature center. Learning aside, his favorite parts of preschool are his friends, recess and riding the bus.

I’ve often heard the term “threeanger”. This would be true for August. Wowzers. No one warned me that three would bring stubbornness, arguments, sass, and full on meltdowns. August has perfected the gift to negotiate and defend himself. It’s not uncommon to hear him coming up with a “deal” for how he can get another sweet treat. “I’ll eat three more carrots if you give me a chocolate treat”, hell say. He’s learned how to use our phrases and words against us; “You’re being spicy to me and I don’t like it” or “it hurts my feelings when you talk like that to me” my favorite: “it’s not nice to tell me no”. I keep hoping and praying that someday, he uses his gift to negotiate and argue for good. Because right now, it can be exhausting.

August has fully taken on the role of big brother. He always has an eye for items that Harrison should not have, stops Harrison from crawling up the stairs, tries to protect Harrison from danger or snuggles up with Harrison and says “hey brother, I sure do love you”. My heart explodes when I see a brotherhood forming between these two. Harrison greets August each morning with squeals of delight. Again, I pray, that this never stops.

A big highlight for August this year was having eye muscle surgery. He had both of his eyes operated on at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. With an amazing doctor, who knows August well, he has fully recovered and now has two eyes that are aligned. It does look like he’ll be rocking the Ray Bans once again to work on strengthening both eyes to work equally.

Everyday with August is adventure. He has an exuberant amount of joy and optimism. He loves going to the library, use his imagination, being with people, and of course…watching shows. And how I could forgot about Pokemon? He developed a love for Pokemon when Pokemon Go was big this summer. His ability to memorize names of Pokemon, know their powers and types, never ceases to amaze me. I am still trying to see the silver lining in Pokemon and find how it can be educational…like I said, I’m still trying. 😉 For now–we’ll just him dress up like charzard and battle us with his stuffed master ball.

There is never a dull moment when August is awake. He’s full of stories, questions about the world around him and requests to role play pirates, Pokemon battles or firetrucks. He’s starting to grasp the this world isn’t a perfect place. He’s asking questions that make me stop in tracks and realize that he is watching and listening to everything that happens. Now more than ever, I pray that he learns how to think critically about issues, seek justice, stand against hate and love like Jesus.

August Thacker–you have made parenthood way more enjoyable than I ever thought it would be. You have a wonder for the world. Never stop seeking truth, standing up for what is right and holding true to your convictions. You’ve been given some amazing gifts and I can’t wait to see how the Lord uses them for His good. We love you, August and are so thankful that you are in our lives.